Protecting The Glory Of Our Green Spaces

Until her untimely death at the end of 2019, Bella D’Arcy Reed was the writer in residemce at the Essex Gardens Trust. Before her passing, she was compiling a feature on the role of the trust in protecting the county’s green spaces and Essex Life is privileged to share her words

Nearly quarter of a century ago, two women, historian Fiona Cowell and garden enthusiast Marion Swetenham, founded the charity Essex Gardens Trust (EGT), helped with the support and advice from Martin Wakelin, Gareth Gunning and John Hunter of Essex County Council. Alongside research into the county’s historical gardens, EGT was involved from very early on in the conservation of two of our important and unforgettable Essex landscapes. It assisted with the setting up of a lease for Essex Wildlife Trust to manage Warley Place near Brentwood, once the garden of Edwardian plantswoman Ellen Wilmott.

EGT was also the driving force, led by garden writer Hugh Johnson, in the creation of the Gibberd Garden Trust. Fiona and Marion were equally instrumental in setting up the Friends of the Bridge End Gardens in Saffron Walden (the restored and delightful Victorian Gardens). Although these projects are very different, they help to illustrate the diversity of our gardening heritage in Essex and they are now thriving and open to the public.